Hello Everyone!
We are talking about the last part of Philippians 4:8 on this post ~
the portion in red below:
"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things." Philippians 4:8 NIV
I have been reading the Holman Christian Standard Bible since the first of the year and I liked the way they translated the last portion of this verse:
"Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable—if there is any moral excellence and if there is any praise—dwell on these things."
The phrase ~ "moral excellence" jumped out at me.
So.....this post that is what we are "dwelling on".
Below are just a few of the images I found on Google
when I searched for "moral excellence".
Moral Excellence in the first one is represented by the lantern or yard light,
I think...what do you think?
what do you think?
On the last one, please tell me how a "tip truck"
encourages moral excellence?
tip truck
"The products are designed with new ideas. They are unique and neoteric. They can promote the youngster and children to develop in moral education, intellectual education, physical culture, moral excellence and physical labor.
A tip truck with candies. This is a toy looks like a truck, and inside it there are some ball candies.They are unique and neoteric."
We feel that we have to be politically correct.
We feel as though we are going to be hated if we stand up for Biblical morals.
We feel that we must present a cotton candy gospel.
Hopefully, by the end of this post,
we will all be more comfortable with moral excellence
and DWELLING or thinking about things that are morally excellent.
(**PLEASE READ TO THE END AND VIEW THE VIDEO.
IT WILL ENCOURAGE YOU ABOUT OBTAINING OR CONTINUING
MORAL EXCELLENCE!!**)
Why should we do this ~ have and think about moral excellence?
Because in verse 9, it says this will bring us PEACE!
is released from a child's hand.
It rushes to the sky, never to be seen again, in the original form!
Steve McNair, former quarterback of the Tennessee Titans,
whom police say was murdered by his mistress.
Here is one quote from an article written by Dan Levy for the Washington Post:
"This quote in The Tennessean, (The Tennessean is Nashville's main newspaper) taken from a fan who drove up from Kentucky to Nashville just to be near the place McNair was gunned down, is something I'm still not able to wrap my head around.
'Anyone can get famous,' said (Kelly) McCracken, who attends five or more Titans games a year. 'But it takes a genuinely moral person to be a leader. He wasn't just a football player, he was a leader.'
That quote is so wrongheaded on so many levels. First, one's morality has nothing to do with his or her ability to lead. Just ask anyone on The Hill about that one and see how long it takes before they stop laughing. Second, if it takes a genuinely moral person to be a leader, and Ms. McCracken is surmising that because of that McNair was in fact a leader, it's fascinating to think this quote came from someone outside the CRIME SCENE OF HIS MURDER WHERE HE WAS FOUND WITH HIS MISTRESS.
Where exactly are the morals in any of this? Can someone tell me, after all that's been reported, has anything fallen into the 'morals' clause of the contract? But this is what we do. Because a man was tough on the football field -- and toughness is something we laud in our gridiron greats -- we salute him for being admirable off the field as well. Clearly, at least in his personal life, that was not the case."
To view the whole article, click here.
Here is a definition of moral excellence from an online dictionary:
Noun: moral excellence
Derived forms: moral excellences
Here is a question and answer from www.wiki.answers.com
Q.
Do you believe in moral relativism that there are no moral truths and that morality is simply an individual's definition of right and wrong?
A.
Yes of course what individuals believe may have been influenced by society and culture and others are scared into believing stuff (Eg believing in a religion because of the 'risks' mentioned if you dont believe) but i personally believe that right and wrong is a matter of opinion but many choose to live in harmony with others by adopting the same morals as the majority.
The bad news in that quote is that we humans are fallible ~ we mess up!
No matter how many times we try...we cannot do life by ourselves!
The good news is that we have Help.
We have a Helper with a capital "H"!!
tells us how to have moral excellence by asking God for help
instead of trying to do life by ourselves and our own measly thoughts
and ideas.
Romans 8 tell us how to live life with God's help.
In my Holman Christian Standard Bible, the title for Romans 8 is
"The Life-Giving Spirit".
In my New International Version Bible, the title is
"Life Through the Spirit".
In my Message Bible, the title is
"The Solution Is Life On God's Terms".
This is one of my most favorite chapters in the Bible for many reasons.
One, being verse 11:
"And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who lives in you." NIV
Verses 9-11 Message Bible-
"But God Himself has taken up residence in your life, you can hardly be thinking more of yourself than of Him. Anyone, of course, who has not welcomed this invisible but clearly present God, the Spirit of Christ, won't know what we're talking about. But for you who welcome Him, in whom He dwells-even though you still experience all the limitations of sin-you yourself experience life on God's terms. It stands to reason, doesn't it, that if the alive-and-present God who raised Jesus from the dead moves into your life, He'll do the same thing in you that He did in Jesus, bringing you alive to Himself? When God lives and breathes in you (and He does, as surely as He did in Jesus), you are delivered form that dead life. With his Spirit living in you, your body will be as alive as Christ's!"
All righty then...
We have a Helper with a capital "H"!
I like the Message portion of the above verses where it says-
"-even though you still experience all the limitations of sin-".
We will still be tempted when we strive for moral excellence.
We will still fail.
We will still have problems, because we are living in this world.
But we have a Helper Who is there for us and in Whom we
have the same power that raised Christ from the dead!
The same power that ascended Christ to heaven.
We have that power in us from the Heavenly Father!
W.O.W.
We may fail, but we have the power in us from God
to dust ourselves off and try again!
Below is the video that I was speaking of earlier.
I am presenting this video in 2 formats.
The first one has all the words included and has more of a nature-type picture background.
The second one has some of the words, but the background graphics are so amazing
to where I found myself asking-"How did they do that"?
Please enjoy both, because I could not chose between the two! :D
Please be encouraged to know who your Helper is.
Ask yourself the question-"Do I know Him"?
If you have not asked the Helper, or God to come into your life
so you do not have to do life alone,
so you do not have to try to have moral excellence alone,
NOW would be a great time to ask Him into your life
to be your Helper. Amen
Striving for moral excellence with my Helper's power,
Hi Debbie,
ReplyDeleteI like your bible's translation that says it is moral excellence.
I don't have a clue about the last two examples of moral excellence that was on Google, and I had to look up the word neoteric to see that it meant new, recent, modern. I'm sure that is why it seems all Greek to me. (HA HA)
I do like the on-line dictionary definition of moral excellence. That is what I think moral excellence is. But unless we have Christ living in us and through us, we will never be able to live up to that definition.
Like you said we are humans and we will mess up, but thank God we can ask forgiviness, and turn from our wrong, and his word says in I John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
I watched both videos and they were good. God is the King of Kings, and the Lord of Lords, and he is my King too.
Love you,
Darlene
Debbie, what an excellent post. I am teaching a Sunday School class in 2 Peter. Your post has been very helpful in preparation of my lesson. Thank you for your words and the TRUTH that is contained in the words you have written guided by the Holy Spirit. Keep writing sister - in - Christ.
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